2/24 Mariner trip review

[tropicalsun]

Mariner of the Seas 2/24-3/3 Western Caribbean

We’re unpacked and the laundry is being done so I thought I’d write a quick review of our recent trip. This was our fourth year of doing a late February seven day cruise out of Galveston to the Western Caribbean. This was our third year aboard the Mariner of the Seas.

Boarding this year was by far the easiest, smoothest boarding we’ve experienced. We didn’t have to wait in line at all and were literally in our cabin thirty minutes after parking our car.

We booked cabin 7618, a balcony on the port hump. The room was very nice and we liked the flat-screen upgrade over last year’s old TV. The flowers, cheese, fruit and wine we had ordered were waiting for us. Unpacked our suitcases, hung our RC fluffy robes on the bathroom door and we were set!

Sail-away was fun. We checked around the Sky bar but did not find any of the Mariner Marauders to meet so we enjoyed our first drink with our group of ten friends. We were on the early seating for dinner so we didn’t linger long on deck.

This year we were able to get a dinner table next to the window on Deck 3. For us this was far superior to the other tables we had the previous three years. We rotated throughout the week so we all had a chance to sit facing the window with a full ocean view as we dined. This was the first week of the new menu. In our collective view, the menu was AWESOME and we enjoyed our meal every night. Our waiter, Heri, was the absolute best waiter we’ve ever had and he really contributed to our dining experience.

Monday morning was the cabin crawl. While my wife got her massage at the spa, I met with several other Mariner Marauders from Cruise Critic and took a tour of several different cabin categories. Thank you to all who allowed us to invade your cabins. I learned a lot. We saw a Junior Suite on the hump, a deluxe balcony and a Junior suite on the fantail, and a Grand Suite. WOW!!! Thanks again!

The Meet and Mingle was entertaining. It was nice to meet new folks, play “people bingo” and get a free gift! Then it was off to the slot pull where around fifteen of us proved why gambling on a cruise ship is probably the not the best way spend money Thank you to cruisindawn for organizing the slot pull. Ten bucks is ten bucks!

We went to first production show and liked it. We also liked the comedian and one solo singer who did the Sammy Davis Jr. routine and I am sure someone here can actually remember their names. Our group is split on the second production show and the Unexpected Boys. The musicians spread throughout the ship were all outstanding. Now..the karoke…well… We also spent a couple of late nights in the Dragons Lair. This was our first time in there and my wife loved the dancing. We also spent a good amount of time in the casino. For our group, the slots were tough, except one of us (not me!) did hit a $1300 jackpot. I enjoyed playing at the card tables for a little while which I had never done before. The dealers were very helpful to explain why I was losing!

In Roatan we booked our friend Alfonzo through Christopher tours to take us to the Extremely Extreme Zip-Line. He was waiting for us just outside the gate of the port with his air-conditioned van. 30 minutes later were getting our harnesses on. This was our second year Zip Linning but our first at this particular venue. It was AWESOME! Go! After our zip-line we headed to Half-Moon Bay to spend the rest of the day enjoying Honduran cigars, Monkey Lalas, blackened snapper and even a little snorkeling. Roatan is spectacular.

We look forward to our Belize excursion. We book a horse back trip with Santiago Juan from Hanna Stables (http://www.hannastables.com) Santiago is an extremely personable, well educated, eco-friendly rancher/farmer/horseman. His driver met as at the port and we took the long trip to San Ignacio. Santiago was waiting with our horsed ready to go. We rode with Santiago last year and were prepared for the stunning beauty of riding along the Mopal river, seeing Mayan ruins on the top of the hills, and enjoying a home cooked lunch of Belizean food so weren’t taken by surprise. We would love to spend a week with Santiago riding. This is, in our opinion, an absolute must do excursion.

Cozumel was a bust for many of us on this cruise due to weather. We had booked a day-pass at Secrets Aura resort and were very disappointed. I had read several very positive reviews of this resort so my expectations were high. For the $100 per person, which includes all drinks, food and water activities, I also expected a little service. We paid $15 for a taxi to the resort, were shown to the desk when we arrived and they collected our money. There was not orientation, tour or even directions as to where to go and what was available. We never had a waiter ask us if we wanted a drink. The menu at the restaurant had a very limited number of choices for lunch and it still took 30 minutes to get our food after we ordered. The food was unimpressive. My wife and a friend did have a good experience at the spa getting a massage. Also, the resort seemed focused on it’s week package clients who all appeared to be happy with the resort and the service. However, for our money, we won’t be spending anymore time there.

The windy weather in Cozumel stayed with us as we headed back to Galveston. We didn’t spend much time outside on the return trip but enjoyed doing some shopping on board and eating lunch in the dining room rather than Windjammers. Lunch in the dining room is great! Love the salad bar!

Ok..this was a bit longer than I anticipated. Our 2013 cruise was a huge success. We’ve put our deposit down for our next cruise and can hardly wait.

 

Tropicalsun

Rob

[ARCruisinNana]

Thanks for your review. I look forward to being on the ship in two weeks:D

[stewpapa]

Thanks for the review. We were getting off the day you got on. Best debarkation ever. In our car by 8:30 am! Try Nachi Cocom in Cozumel next time. All inclusive $49, great service and food!

[tropicalsun]

thanks for the Cozumel tip! I left out our debarkation employing the "if you don't have something good to say" axiom. It took four hours from the time we were to be in the Savoy (9am) until we were in our car. I have no idea what caused the delay but it bottle-necked the whole process. Oh well...if that's all we have to complain about it was a good cruise!

[BonTexasNY]

thanks for the Cozumel tip! I left out our debarkation employing the "if you don't have something good to say" axiom. It took four hours from the time we were to be in the Savoy (9am) until we were in our car. I have no idea what caused the delay but it bottle-necked the whole process. Oh well...if that's all we have to complain about it was a good cruise!

 

Oh no, I was afraid to ask about debarkation. We had the same long debarkation when we got off the Mariner on Jan. 20 of this year and on the Voyager in Jan. 2011 both with the Roatan itinerary. Our itinerary in Jan. 2012 was the Jamaica itinerary and we breezed thru customs in under 30 minutes! A customs official told me that Roatan itinerary cruises get a longer customs inspection than the Jamaica itinerary. Stewpapa posted above that he was in his car by 8:30am the day you embarked which means he was on the alternate itinerary. It took us approximately 3 hours from the time we got on line until we passed thru customs. Yet there are some who posted on CC that they sailed on the Roatan itinerary and had no problem going thru customs. Not sure what the problem really is. It took a few hours just for self assist pax to debark before the rest of us could get in line.

 

Glad your whole cruise was wonderful in spite of the debarkation. Ours was too! I wish we could have had the new menu on our cruise. Next year we will! This was the 2nd time we couldn't visit our fave spot in Cozumel due to rain or high winds/clouds...Paradise Beach. Maybe next time.

[bighairtexan]

Did the Mariner have the "new menus" yet? the ones labeled Pimento, Jasmine, etc? (I don't really care about the labels but I was wondering if the new menus were in place.

TIA

[JYD Hawkeye]

Did the Mariner have the "new menus" yet? the ones labeled Pimento, Jasmine, etc? (I don't really care about the labels but I was wondering if the new menus were in place.

TIA

I saw another posting on CC that said they have the new menus already.

[Whittyone]

Did the Mariner have the "new menus" yet? the ones labeled Pimento, Jasmine, etc? (I don't really care about the labels but I was wondering if the new menus were in place.

TIA

Yes, we were on the 2/17 sailing of the Mariner and they were in place for that cruise. It had been a while since we had been on a cruise and it was quite a bit tastier than what I remember about the previous cruise.

[stewpapa]

Did the Mariner have the "new menus" yet? the ones labeled Pimento, Jasmine, etc? (I don't really care about the labels but I was wondering if the new menus were in place.

TIA

 

2/17 was the first new menu week on the Mariner. Everything was OK, but nothing was great. It was not impressive to me. We do enjoy the MDR experience though.

[poodog]

Thanks for the review

[whitestar11]

We were on the 2/24 Mariner trip in a Grand Suite. That room does have the WOW factor and worth every additional penny! Embarkation was a breeze and probably the easiest we've ever had. Disembarkation was not so easy, but that's because we did the Roatan route. It is known for having a long disembarkation process.

 

There is only one place to visit in Cozumel...Nachi Cocom. Been there last three trips and absolutly love the place. First class all the way! Even though our weather wasn't the most favorable it was still a great day. And while there one must do the beach massage.

 

Great trip and look forward to doing it again next February.

[ARCruisinNana]

We were on the 2/24 Mariner trip in a Grand Suite. That room does have the WOW factor and worth every additional penny! Embarkation was a breeze and probably the easiest we've ever had. Disembarkation was not so easy, but that's because we did the Roatan route. It is known for having a long disembarkation process.

 

There is only one place to visit in Cozumel...Nachi Cocom. Been there last three trips and absolutly love the place. First class all the way! Even though our weather wasn't the most favorable it was still a great day. And while there one must do the beach massage.

 

Great trip and look forward to doing it again next February.

 

 

Looking forward to being on Mariner in less than 2 weeks. Which GS were you in? Did you like the location? How did you like the new Concierge, Sebastien?

[whitestar11]

We were in 1552 port side forward. All past cruises we've been more mid-ship but being forward wasn't an issue. You're going to walk one way or the other and being close to the forward elevators was easy.

 

Luca was our conceirge and he was wonderful! Unfortunatly he got off with our disembarkation for his vacation, so we didn't meet the next conceirge.

 

Great cruise overall!

[ARCruisinNana]

We were in 1552 port side forward. All past cruises we've been more mid-ship but being forward wasn't an issue. You're going to walk one way or the other and being close to the forward elevators was easy.

 

Luca was our conceirge and he was wonderful! Unfortunatly he got off with our disembarkation for his vacation, so we didn't meet the next conceirge.

 

Great cruise overall!

 

Thanks. We're in GS a little more towards the mid. I've had Luca for the Concierge several times and I'm disappointed he won't be on my cruise:(

[bighairtexan]

Thanks so much for the answers re: new menus. I appreciate it.

[leanncarlson]

We are headed on this same cruise except on the Magic in May. We have booked and excursion with Hanna Stables in Belize riding horses to the ruins. Any suggestions/information on meeting them once we get off the ship and any problems getting back in time for when the ship leaves?

 

 

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[tropicalsun]

You are going to have a great time! Meeting them is easy. When you get off the tender walk straight ahead and go out the terminal exit. There will be a group of people to your right (again...outside the terminal, not the folks at the dock) one of them will be holding a sign with your name on it! Most likely you'll be picked up by Pravin.

 

We've never had a problem getting back on time. They are very mindful of your departure time. Be sure to let Santiago know what time you need to be back and be sure to tell him Hello from pastor Rob!

 

 

 

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[leanncarlson]

Thank you for your response and I will tell him hello for you.

 

 

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